Your Country Needs You: 7 Reasons to get Behind SuRie

Later today the United Kingdom will take to the stage for the first time in preparations for this year’s Contest. SuRie will get her first taste of the Altice Arena as she and the other automatic qualifiers rehearse their numbers for the very first time. Regardless of what happens next Saturday night (8pm, BBC1 for everyone back in the UK) Surie has already done more than enough to do our country proud on the continent. Here are the reasons why:

1. She is a social media Queen! A quick flick through Surie’s Twitter & Instagram is a worthwhile way to spend a morning. Whether she’s freaking out when meeting celebrities, catching up on some gym work before a concert or interviewing her fellow competitors she’s always posting high quality content. She’s already won Twitter, next stop…the glass microphone!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BhluV85neMt/?hl=en&taken-by=surieofficial

2. Surie loves a cuppa! If you have such a delicious national stereotype you might as well do your level best to keep it up. As you can see below she’s brought a catering size bag of PG Tips as well as a couple of boxes of posh biscuits (classy!) and Pot Noodles (less classy). Her postcard will also see Surie visiting a Portuguese tea plantation. She’ll have to queue to get in there, complain about the weather and whip off her skirt to reveal a smaller skirt to win stereotype bingo.

3. When you’re in a crisis you call on Surie. In my humble opinion the highlight of the preview concerts was a duet nobody saw coming. After Emelie of Madame Monsieur was taken ill before the Amsterdam concert our own dear Surie came to the rescue. She ensured that Jean-Karl didn’t have a wasted journey and the message of the song could still be shared. This was the perfect example of the Eurovision community sticking together. I believe the plan had been if Mikolas’ back had got worse Surie was also going to perform ‘Lie To Me’. The show must go on!

4. Courtesy of Belgium she comes with Eurovision pedigree built in. Along with Cesar Sampson of Austria, Surie has this year stepped up from backing vocalist to centre stage. She’s backed two of Belgium’s entries, Loic Nottet & Blanche, both of whom finished fourth in 2015 & 2017 respectively. She’s been around the Contest, she knows how it plays out and thus far she’s played the game very well. Who knew the girl that stamped on Loic’s crotch would go on to be our national hero.

5. Surie cares about the fans. At it’s heart the Eurovision Song Contest brings people together. That was the very point of it starting 60 years ago. Over that time it’s proved itself to be a beacon of inclusivity with all welcome at the Contest. Surie has embraced that this week, releasing a BSL version of ‘Storm’. She received a message from a fan who asked for an interpreted version. Surie obliged and now even more people can enjoy her song. Eurovision is for everybody.

6. Surie understands Eurovision. Being a fan of the Contest in the UK can be bloody tough at times. When we’re faced with constant proclamations that the music’s awful, it’s all political and nobody will vote for us because of Brexit it can be somewhat tedious. An example we had this week was the otherwise tip top broadcaster Philip Schofield dishing out all the usual Wogan cliches on This Morning. However, our girl has the class to rise above it and explain how the Contest actually works. What a hero!

7. Most importantly of all, she gives a quality performance. I was lucky enough to be in the Brighton Dome back in February when Surie won her ticket to Lisbon at Eurovision: You Decide. She was the undoubted star of the evening (well, maybe along with Rylan) and deservedly won a huge reaction from the crowd. Whilst there were some other decent performances that night only Surie was able to put together the whole package live. Give us more of the same and we can’t ask for anymore.